Probability Angling: A Recreational Fishery Management Strategy

Abstract

Probability angling is a recreational fishery management strategy that uses catch assessment data to establish criteria for evaluating personal recreational angling success. Angling groups on two reservoirs on each of two river drainages in the southeastern United States were asked to rate their incompleted trip quality and fishing success as either poor, fair, good or excellent. Trip-quality ratings were not correlated with ratings of fishing success. Total weight and total number of fish caught per incompleted trip were correlated best with fishing-success ratings among eight descriptors of each group's catch. Drainage catches (via pooling catches from two reservoirs) were significantly different regarding total number of fish per angling group, yet anglers did not rate their fishing success differently between drainages. Collectively, fishermen adjusted their success expectations (i.e., mean number of fish caught within each success category) according to intended target and river system fished. Virtually identical ranges of numbers of fish per angling group within each success category demonstrated that individual fishing-success ratings were subjective. Ranges of numbers of fish below a creel limit (based on descending percentile probabilities of catching fish) were classified as poor, fair, good, and excellent to operationally define probability angling success. Developing and posting this information for each fishery would provide managers and anglers with resource-specific definitions of quality fishing.